Correspondence,
financial records, client files, contracts, membership records, legal
documents, and other records of Save All Ethiopian Jews, a human rights
organization in Western Washington that worked covertly to expedite the
immigration of Jews from Ethiopia to Israel

Save All Ethiopian Jews (SAEJ) was established in Mercer Island,
Washington, in 1983 to assist in the immigration and resettlement of Jews from
Ethiopia to Israel. The organization was the brainchild of Sidney Weiner, a
former Boeing engineer, and his nephew-in-law Eli Halpern, an attorney in
Olympia, Washington. Eli Halpern's brother, Bill Halpern, had died in Kenya
under mysterious circumstances in 1982 while working to help Ethiopian Jews.
Sidney Weiner and Eli Halpern decided to memorialize Bill Halpern's efforts by
forming a local organization dedicated to the rescue and resettlement of
Ethiopian Jews in Israel. Sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle
and several other Jewish service organizations, SAEJ was run completely by
volunteers. Along with Sidney Weiner, his wife Margaret, and Eli Halpern, the
founding members of SAEJ included Sol Goldberg and Samantha Ripley, who were
working independently to raise awareness of and funding for Ethiopian Jews in
local Jewish congregations.

At the time that SAEJ was founded, there were an estimated 30,000 Jews
in Ethiopia, most of them living in the rural province of Gondar. Scorned as
"falashas" (a pejorative term that means "strangers" in Amharic), Ethiopian
Jews faced discrimination, poverty, religious oppression, and starvation. These
conditions were exacerbated by widespread famine in Ethiopia throughout the
1980s, the repressive policies of the Mengistu regime, and the ongoing war with
Eritrea. To escape such conditions, many Ethiopian Jews traveled by foot to
refugee camps on the Sudanese border. In late 1985, the Israeli government,
which had no official diplomatic relations with Ethiopia at the time, airlifted
9,500 Ethiopian Jews from Sudan in a rescue dubbed Operation Moses. The rescue
was suspended after news of the secret evacuation effort broke in the
international media, and Israel did not actively pursue further large-scale
evacuations of Ethiopian Jews until the Operation Solomon airlift of 1991.

Along with several other North American organizations, such as the
American Association for Ethiopian Jews (AAEJ), the North American Conference
on Ethiopian Jewry (NACOEJ), and the Canadian Association for Ethiopian Jews
(CAEJ), SAEJ worked to fill the void left by Israel's official
non-participation in repatriating Ethiopian Jews. The group first attempted to
secure passports for Ethiopian Jews by "adopting" Jewish children in Ethiopia.
When this strategy became unfeasible, Halpern and Weiner devised a covert
program in which Ethiopian adults received "work contracts" from Washington
employers, and children and teenagers received "scholarships" to Washington
grade schools and colleges. Most of the schools were fictitious, and the
supposed employers participating in the "contract" arrangements had only the
vaguest notion of their role in assisting SAEJ's efforts. The falsified
documents enabled Ethiopians to receive passports and leave the country. Once
they reached the United States, they were immediately flown to Israel and
entered absorption centers before resettling in their new country. Until late
1988, most of the documents were prepared by Eli Halpern and the employees of
his law firm in Olympia. From 1985 to 1990, SAEJ worked in quiet cooperation
with Israeli officials through the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS), which
reimbursed SAEJ members for travel and operating expenses.

SAEJ's model for rescuing Ethiopian Jews proved so successful that it
was later adopted by the other North American organizations working on behalf
of Ethiopian Jews. In 1989, SAEJ moved into an office in the Jewish Federation
building in downtown Seattle, where its members continued to prepare, process,
and track immigration documents not only for SAEJ but also for AAEJ, NACOEJ,
and CAEJ for the next two and a half years. Because of the covert nature of
their programs, SAEJ did not publicize its efforts, nor did it actively solicit
donations outside local Jewish congregations.

In May 1991, the Israeli government airlifted approximately 14,325
Ethiopian Jews from Ethiopia to Israel in Operation Solomon, bringing the vast
majority of the remaining Ethiopian Jews to Israel. After this monumental
event, SAEJ members felt that their assistance with immigration efforts was no
longer necessary and officially dissolved the organization on March 23,1992.
The remaining SAEJ funds were used to establish the SAEJ/Bill Halpern Ethiopian
Scholarship Endowment Fund, which awards college grants to Ethiopian youths now
resettled in Israel. The fund is jointly managed at present by the Jewish
Federation of Seattle and the Ethiopian Scholarship Fund Committee, which
includes Sidney Weiner, Eli Halpern, and other original SAEJ members.

The Save All Ethiopian Jews (SAEJ) records document the organization's
activities on behalf of Ethiopian Jews before, during, and after their covert
immigration to Israel. The materials offer insight into SAEJ's administrative
structure and organizational history as well as the development and maintenance
of the group's programs to assist Ethiopian Jews, particularly the "work
contract" and "scholarship" programs.

The records include the organization's articles of incorporation and
by-laws, financial records, fundraising materials, membership rosters, notes of
individual SAEJ members, photographic prints and negatives of Ethiopian Jews,
client files, and document preparation files. Minutes of SAEJ meetings and
other administrative records are spotty and incomplete. In order to educate
themselves about the history, culture, and socioeconomic status of Ethiopian
Jews, SAEJ members collected a substantial body of clippings, pamphlets,
reports, and other materials on Ethiopian Jews in Ethiopia and Israel. There is
also material, mainly correspondence, documenting SAEJ's collaborations and
communications with other organizations dedicated to assisting Ethiopian Jews.
Major correspondents include: Sidney Weiner, Eli Halpern, Zimna Berhani,
Charles Kaplan, Margaret Weiner, HIAS, NACOEJ, AAEJ, CAEJ, the Jewish
Federation of Greater Seattle, and the National Jewish Community Relations
Advisory Council.

The Administrative files document the management and
administration of Save All Ethiopian Jews (SAEJ) from its establishment in 1983
to its dissolution in 1992. Materials include by-laws, articles of
incorporation, fundraising files, minutes, member notes, financial records, and
an extensive history of SAEJ.

Container(s)

Description

Dates

Box/Folder

1/1

Articles of incorporation and sponsorship
letters

1983

1/2

Buttons

undated

1/3

By-laws

1983

1/4

Dissolution records

1992

Financial records

Box/Folder

1/5

Bills

1983-1984

1/6

Bills, paid

1985-1987

1/7-1/8

Internal Revenue Service and bank account
files

1983-1985

VF:oversize

81a

Ledger

1985-1990

Box/Folder

1/9

Requests for reimbursement

1984-1986

1/10

Book Publishers Statements

1986-1988

1/11

Save All Ethiopian Jews/Jewish Federation Community
Relations Council account

Program files document the two major programs of Save All
Ethiopian Jews (SAEJ): its immigration assistance efforts and the SAEJ/Bill
Halpern Ethiopian Scholarship Fund. The Immigration files detail the "adoption"
strategy SAEJ first employed in 1984 and 1985 and the "scholarship" and
"employment contract" strategies they later used to secure passports for
Ethiopian Jews from 1985 to 1990. Materials include correspondence, individual
client files, client rosters, notes, and document preparation files. The
Immigration files contain the bulk of SAEJ's correspondence, which includes
documentation of the organization's relationships with the Hebrew Immigrant Aid
Society and other North American agencies involved in rescuing Ethiopian
Jews.

Container(s)

Description

Dates

Immigration files

Adoption

Box/Folder

1/30

Frank and Schleder trip to Ethiopia

1984

1/31

Halpern and Weiner trip to Ethiopia

1983-1984

1/32

Lachman, Mann and Kuper trip to Ethiopia

1984

1/33

General correspondence

1983-1985

General correspondence

Box/Folder

1/34-1/35

American Association for Ethiopian Jews

1983-1990

1/36

American Jewish Committee

1987

1/37

American Jewish Congress

1988

1/38

Mordechai Ben-Porat

1984-1987

1/39

Zimna Berhani

1985, 1988

1/40

Canadian Association for Ethiopian Jews

1988-1990

1/41

Consul General of Israel, Pacific Northwest
Region

1989-1990

1/42-1/43

Ethiopian individuals

1983-1990

1/44-1/59, 2/1-2/2

Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society

1983-1989

2/3

Jewish Agency Israel

1984-1990

2/4-2/5

Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle

1983-1989

2/6

Jerry Maliner

1984

2/7

George P. Mann

1985

2/8

Bent Melchior

1984-1985

2/9-2/11

Miscellaneous

1979-1990

2/12-2/13

North American Conference on Ethiopian
Jewry

1983-1985

2/14-2/15

National Jewish Community Relations Advisory
Council

1983-1991

2/16

Regarding medical assistance for Birhanu
Yiradu

1984

2/17

Religious Action Center (Washington,
D.C.)

1984-1985

2/18

Armand and Michelle Szwarcburt

1984-1986

2/19

U.S. State Department, Coordinator for Refugee
Affairs

1983-1986

Box/Folder

2/20

International summit minutes and notes

1989

Scholarships and employment contracts

Client rosters

Box/Folder

2/21-2/23

Lists of American Association for Ethiopian Jews,
Canadian Association for Ethiopian Jews, and North American Conference on
Ethiopian Jewry

1989-1990

VF:oversize

81b

Lists of American Association for Ethiopian Jews,
Canadian Association for Ethiopian Jews and North American Conference on
Ethiopian Jewry

1989-1990

81d

Names of Save All Ethiopian Jews

Includes a photograph of a client of Save All Ethiopian
Jews.

1988-1989

Box/Folder

2/24

Status reports

1986, 1988

2/25

Unofficial rescues by all groups

1987-1989

Document preparation files

Box/Folder

2/26-2/27

Addresses and zips for affidavits of
support

1982-1989

2/28

Form letters -- schools

1988-1989

2/29

Form letters -- work contracts

1988-1989

2/30

Form letters to [Anne?] and Eli
Halpern

circa 1989

2/31

Forms, letters, and embassy paperwork

1988-1990, undated

2/32

Instructions for work contract authorization by
state

circa 1988

2/33

Instructions for work contracts and
scholarships

circa 1988

2/34-2/97

Letterhead

Files are organized alphabetically by name of school or
business. School files precede business files.

These files contain school and business letterhead and
sample letters used by Save All Ethiopian Jews to obtain passports for
Ethiopian Jews.

The Save All Ethiopian Jews (SAEJ) phone log is a series of
notebooks containing detailed, handwritten notes on SAEJ's telephone
conversations with officials at the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, the American
Association for Ethiopian Jews, and other organizations and individuals working
on the immigration of Ethiopian Jews to Israel. The log is almost entirely
written by Sidney Weiner.

1983-1990

3/1

Processing reports

1987-1988

3/2

Employment contract status reports

1987-1988

3/3

General Correspondence (SAEJ/ Halpern & Smith,
P.S.)

1985-1988

3/4-3/8

Correspondence (Haim Halachmi c/o Karl D.
Zukerman)

1985-1989

4/1

Correspondence (Margaret & Sid
Weiner)

1997-2005

4/2-4/3

From binder entitled "SAEJ VII"

1999-2004

4/4-4/5

From binder entitled "SAEJ VIII"

2004-2007

4/6

From binder entitled "SAEJ IV"

1991-2014

Box

5

Individual client files

Individual client files contain copies of paperwork on
Ethiopians rescued by Save All Ethiopian Jews, the North American Conference on
Ethiopian Jewry, the American Association for Ethiopian Jews, and the Canadian
Association for Ethiopian Jews. Each file contains letters to the Ethiopian
embassy and the individual client from a school or employer, completed work
contracts or scholarship forms, affidavits of support, invitations from the
U.S. State Department, and dated documentation of the entire process. The
organization responsible for each client is noted on the folder.

These materials have been minimally processed.

RESTRICTED. Researchers must complete
Access Agreement for Use.

1989-1990

VF141

Individual client file for Assefaw Bicha

RESTRICTED. Researchers must complete
Access Agreement for Use.

1987-1990

VF142-VF143

Case lists and status notes (G-1 to G-398, G-399 to
G-425)

RESTRICTED. Researchers must complete
Access Agreement for Use.

1984-1989

Box/Folder

6/1

Scholarship applicants/recipients

1993-2009

6/2

Travel arrangements to Ethiopia

1984-1988

6/3-6/5

Scholarship and employment, ticket
refunds

1985-1988

Save All Ethiopian Jews/Bill Halpern Scholarship
Fund

Box/Folder

6/6-6/11

General correspondence

Correspondents include the Jewish Federation of Greater
Seattle, Micha Feldman, and Zimna and Sioux Berhani.

Background information files contain documents collected by Save
All Ethiopian Jews members on various topics relating to Ethiopian Jews in
Ethiopia and Israel. Materials include reports, pamphlets, newspaper and
magazine clippings, notes, and the newsletters and mailings of other
organizations focused on the plight of Ethiopian Jewry.